OMAHA, Neb. — Former Pinkerton star Phil Moricone, a sixth-year wrestler for Edinboro University, came up just short last night at the NCAA Division 1 wrestling championships.
After winning three straight consolation matches, Moricone dropped a hard-fought 5-3 decision to Jarion Beets of Northern Iowa.
If Moricone had defeated Beets, he would have entered the medal round and been guaranteed All-America status.
Moricone had opened the tournament Thursday with a tough 4-2 loss to Luke Manuel of Purdue, but then came back with three impressive decisions, 6-3 over Rider's Jim Resnick, 12-3 over Byron Sigmon of UNC Greensboro and 9-3 over Josh Patterson of Binghamton.
Moricone, who missed all of last year with a severe neck injury, completed his final season with a 22-5 record. This was his third, and most successful, trip to the nationals.
It was a tough tournament for local 125-pounders, former Timberlane standout Eric Morrill of Edinboro and Salem, N.H.'s Aaron Kalil of the Naval Academy. Both dropped two matches and were eliminated from the tournament.
Morrill opened Thursday with a frustrating 9-6 loss to Jason Lara of Oregon State and then was eliminated by Ross Gitomer of Virgina 10-1 while Kalil fell to Virginia Tech's Jarrod Garnett 17-7 and then bowed out with an 11-5 loss to Minnesota's Zach Sanders, the No. 6 seed.
Iowa holds a commanding lead in the team battle. The competition ends tomorrow.
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